Get a safe, secure password for your LinkedIn account

How to change your LinkedIn password is a good thing to know right now, as reports that 6.5 million LinkedIn account details have been hacked.

The reports came from a Russian hacker forum, via Norwegian site dagensit.no, where a user claims to have uploaded 6,458,020 hashed passwords – although without usernames. The passwords aren’t linked to usernames, but Finnish security company Cert-Fi says that it’s likely the hacker has access to the usernames as well. See also: LinkedIn investigating 6.5 million leaked passwords.

There were hopes that the claims would turn out to be a hoax but LinkedIn users are now confirming that they have found their passwords as hashes in the list.

Mikko Hypponen, Chief Research Officer at F-Secure, told The Verge that this is "a real collection," and is "guessing it's some sort of exploit on their web interface, but there's no way to know. I am sure sure LinkedIn will fill us in sooner or later."

LinkedIn has since tweeted that “Our team is currently looking into reports of stolen passwords. Stay tuned for more.”

Luckily changing your LinkedIn password is quick and easy.

How to change a LinkedIn password

Simply log into LinkedIn and click your name in the top right of the LinkedIn page.

Select “Settings” and choose “Change” next to Password.

You’ll be asked to type in your old password (that is, your current password) and choose a new one, and then confirm the new password. See the link below for best tips on choosing a more secure password.

Click “Change password”.

Your LinkedIn password is now changed.

If you’ve forgotten your current password, sign out. Go to sign in again and click the “Forgot password?” link. You’ll be sent an email to the address you registered the account with. Follow the instructions to choose and confirm a new password.